That EMO kid
by Unicorn of death
Summary: Unicorn of death attempts to write LexZex. Oh, joy. Rated T for a couple swearwords and other such things. Includes AkuRoku hints just because I'm a fangirl.


**That EMO kid**

**Warnings:** Swearing, boys kissing, and a brief mention of self-harm. Nothing graphic, but please be aware of your own triggers and if you're not sure, don't read it.

**Disclaimer: **When was the last time you met a unicorn who owned the rights to a video game or its characters?

xxx

They always call him names.

Their favourites are "Queer" and "Emoth", which they claim is a warped combination of EMO and Goth. They push him in the halls and it makes me _sick_, just to think that he's alone and they're all –

"Lexaeus, quit zoning out, I'm trying to talk to you."

I tear my eyes away from Zexion, who looks even smaller than usual among the loud, happy cafeteria-goers, and attempt to focus on Axel, who is babbling about some blonde thing that he met last night. One of Demyx's friends, I believe, and probably only likes girls, because that's usually how things go for Axel.

I don't really care, in all honesty.

Zexion is struggling to find a table. All of the tables are home to at least one other person, and you can bet everything you have that he won't ask to share with someone. I make a snap decision – not a rare occurrence for me – and motion for him to sit by me. He looks confused, of course – we've hardly shared two conversations in two years of this shitty school, but I know he knows who I am. They all know who I am. I'm the one who looks like he should be a thug, but isn't. The one who frequents the library more often than the arcade and who hasn't even been kissed yet.

I don't think they know that last part, actually.

"Aw, Lex, you're not letting _that_ sit with us!" Axel mutters, but I shoot him a look and he is silent, thank _fuck_. His voice really starts getting on your nerves after a while.

I watch him silently as he dodges between football players who could kill him with one motion and blonde girls who could ruin his life with one text, and eventually emerges in front of our table, mostly unharmed. "Erm... could I..."

"Yeah, please do," I say, pulling out the chair next to me and watching him set down his lunch tray and sit down quietly. He looks afraid.

With Axel looking at him like that, I can't blame him.

"You were at the party last night." Axel is blunt and obnoxious as always, and I wonder again why I hang out with such a dick. "Weren't you?"

"Yes, I was." Zexion is definitely eager to please, and I can understand that – after being shunned for years, it must be strange to finally find a moment of refuge. "Why?"

"Do you know the blonde kid that was there?"

I almost want to make Axel leave, so that I can have some halfway intelligent conversation for once, but I know that he'd make me pay for it later, so I don't.

Zexion takes a deep breath and looks down at his lunch. I look as well, and notice that he has very little to eat. I've heard what they say about him, how he's poor, how those shoes used to belong to his sister, how he can't even afford pens and pencils for school. I wonder now whether I should have made an effort to talk to him a little sooner. "Who, Demyx? I know Demyx –"

"No, not Demyx, everyone knows Demyx," Axel says impatiently, waving a hand. "The _little_ blonde, with the big blue eyes, the one who had to go home at ten because his parents would have killed him otherwise."

Zexion tips his head to the side and I can't help but notice that his hair looks incredibly soft and so does his skin. "Roxas? I think that's Roxas..."

Axel taps his plate with his fork thoughtfully. Axel being thoughtful is such a shocking concept that I can't even think how to fill the silence.

Zexion does it for me. "Thank you for letting me sit here with you. They all... I... I don't think that I could have found anywhere else to sit, really." He tries to smile, but his face is too tired and sad to smile, and it looks more like a grimace.

"It's fine, really. It's not like anyone else would want to sit there, with Axel being such a dick." Axel blinks at me, too lost in thought to really register the insult, and I smirk. "Zexion, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"You just did," he said dryly, finishing his pitiful meal of about three grapes and a cookie and sipping water like he was trying to make it last. "Of course I don't mind; ask away."

I decide that Zexion is witty and charming, and wonder why the _fuck_ I hadn't talked to him a little sooner.

"Why do they all pick on you?" I asked. "You seem perfectly nice to me. Is there something I'm missing?"

He shrugs. "It's only because I'm different. Remember Xigbar, the guy who had to leave last year because the bullying was that bad? It's the same principle – anything that's different or ugly or new is rejected."

"I remember Xigbar," Axel says slowly, completely ignoring every word of the conversation except the names he recognises. "He still hangs out with Demyx now and then."

"I like Demyx," Zexion says quietly, and I feel jealousy, pointless and unfounded, swirl up in my chest. "He actually talks to me."

"Standards, man," Axel laughs, reaching over and taking my tomatoes from my plate, knowing that I hate them. "Lex, you want this cookie?"

I think on it for a moment before nodding, taking the cookie and handing it to Zexion under the table. "He gets offended if I don't eat them, but I hate cookies," I lie in a whisper, and Zexion nods, beginning to eat the cookie subtly with his eyes on the table.

"I think I'm gonna go harass Luxord and Xaldin a bit, you know, give them some condoms and leaflets for the adoption agency and so on." Axel gets to his feet and relief washes through me. I don't mind Axel, really, but there are times when he needs to stop talking, and since I have no idea what Zexion was really like, now is one of those times.

Speaking of whom, the supposed Emoth by my side finishes Axel's cookie, his mouth working slowly and adorably, and starts gathering his things. "Well, I suppose now I've finished my food, I should –"

"Don't." He stops and looks at me, and I die a little inside. "Stay for a little while, yeah? We can talk about... um..."

A very pretty smile steals its way across his face, a _real_ smile, and it makes my heart stop. "If you insist," he says quietly, shifting in his seat a little so that he can talk to me properly.

"So, they pick on you because you're different." I'm glad that he's different, though. I wouldn't like him half as much if he were the same. He's growing on me very quickly, really. It usually takes days, weeks before I will willingly have a conversation with someone, never mind give them my (well, Axel's) cookie. "How come they don't pick on Axel, then? He's as different as they come, right?"

"But Axel can defend himself. He's bigger than a lot of them, for a start, and very, erm, vocal." I notice that he's careful not to insult my friend and like Zexion a little bit more. "I'm quiet, and small, and I don't even have any money to back me up. Really, I don't have very much to lose."

I look at him, trying to gauge how upset he is by all of the bullying. "They're all dicks."

"Well, yes," he half-laughs, and I smile. "I suppose it's at least partly my fault. If I thought it was worth the trouble, I'd report them. But it's hard to report the entire school." There's a battered something-or-other behind his eyes, something I feel deeply uneasy about. "It isn't as if I've never had to deal with bullying. At least these bullies don't hit me all that much."

"Why? Who else... you've been at this school for two years, right? Where else were you getting bullied?" His face becomes an embodiment of terror and I realise that he didn't expect me to ask questions – he didn't expect me to care. "Zexion?"

"It's... it's all cleared up now, don't worry..." He's clearly lying, but he knows he can't seal that hole back up now. "I... I should go..."

"Please stay," I say softly, and that's all it takes – he stays, and the smile is back, and I'm so very happy to see it again. "Zexion, if you need someone taking care of..."

"It's okay," he says, looking for all the world like a normal, happy teenager. "Listen, erm... would you want to, uh, hang out some time?"

"Tonight would be cool." I pretend that this isn't a big deal. It's a big deal to both of us. Him because he's always alone, and me because, after some careful thinking in the background of our conversation, I have come to the conclusion that I'm really quite attracted to this guy.

"Okay, then. I'll meet you outside English?" I nod, deciding not to ask how he knew that I had English last, and watch him leave, my eyes straying down to his ass because, hey, I'm a teenage boy.

xxx

"Hey."

People are looking at us funny. I love it. I love the feeling of proving them wrong yet again, by being intelligent, by being gentle, and now by being Zexion's friend. I fall into step with him easily and we escape the crowded hall outside of English, escape the school altogether, and find a cheap burger joint that sells what are basically heart attacks in polystyrene containers. I pay for his food after he mumbles something about leaving his wallet at home, knowing that he's bullshitting and knowing that he knows that I know that he's bullshitting, but saying nothing, just for the sake of his pride.

We find a park bench and sit together, talk about nothing, everything, nothing. Eventually the conversation comes around to sexual preference, and I find that the last few fries still in my throat.

"I don't really have a preference, as such," I say, more to sound clever than anything else. "It depends, really. But I think I'm mostly into guys, if that makes sense."

Zexion nods. I keep noticing how cute he looks when he nods, or how sexy he is when he's worked up about something (never mention Escape The Fate to him. _Ever_). I keep noticing things about him that I never notice about anyone else.

"See, I'm really picky. I like guys, but only guys who are taller than me, not too obnoxious, and notice the things that other people don't."

I find myself comparing that description to me and hurriedly change the channel in my brain, not wanting to think too hard about the possibility of Zexion liking me because, really, I would only get my hopes up to be shot down.

"So... um... would you kiss a guy on the first date?" I feel a little like I'm forcing the conversation, but Zexion doesn't seem to notice.

"Yes, if I liked that guy..." he says, and I take a deep breath.

I lean in.

We kiss.

He pulls away first and the high I got from the kiss is rapidly being replaced by thoughts of "What if I fucked up?". I'm slightly reassured by the smile that grows across his face, and even more reassured when he laces his fingers through mine.

"You have really big hands. Is it true what they say about guys with big hands?" His cheeks are turning a lovely shade of pink, and I look down at our hands, trying to figure out what's even happening.

"Yep," I say without even thinking about it, then processing the question a tad late. "Erm..."

"I do really like you, Lexaeus," he murmurs, leaning in so that only I can hear. "Believe me, if I didn't, you would know by now."

I have to smile at that, and we kiss again, my hands rising up to slip his jacket off his shoulders and run my fingers along his forearms delicately –

"_Shit_," Zexion hisses, pulling away and trying to yank his jacket back onto his body, but not before I see what he's trying to hide. "Lexaeus... I..."

"What the _fuck_ is this?" I ask sharply, pointing at the bloody, scarred mess underneath the sleeves he's finally managed to jam back on.

He looks at the ground. "I think I should go now."

"Don't." He stays, which I think is a good sign. "What is..."

"They always said, "Why don't you just go cut yourself, EMO kid? So one day, I did." I can feel my angry face settling onto my skull but can't find the energy or inclination to mask it. "I know it's awful. I guess you don't wanna –"

"I do." He looks up at me, hope hovering at the edges of his eyes. "I want to help you, Zexion. I've wanted to help you ever since I first saw you, heard all the names that they called you, saw them shoving you... I want to help you."

"Thank you," he whispers, kissing me again.

This is so much better than hanging out with Axel.

xxx

I don't even know why I wrote that. It's four in the morning but I couldn't sleep so I figured I'd try my hand at LexZex. Hopefully it hasn't burned your eyes and converted you to any other pairing but this one, and maybe if you love me a lot you'll review and maybe read some of my other fics? Oh, and suggestions, prompts, challenges etc are greatly appreciated. Huge loves for you all!


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